Rewinder for paper and the like



May 14, 1968 D. A. DALY ET AL REWINDER FOR PAPER AND THE LIKE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 17, 1966 m s .w wvm W4 /W 0 GP 4 e 5 W5 40 Q 05/ May 14, 1968 D ET AL 3,383,064

REWINDER FOR PAPER AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. 17, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVIJx -IORS 041/70 fl. D ILY United States Patent 3,383,064 REWINDER FOR PAPER AND THE LIKE David A. Daly, Exton, and Robert G. Lucas and John D. Pfeilfer, Downingtown, Pa., assignors to Beloit Eastern Corporation, Downingtown, Pa., a corporation of Delaware Filed Jan. 17, 1966, Ser. No. 521,100 17 Claims. (Cl. 24256.2)

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Winder for rewinding webs of paper. A winder mandrel is supported on parallel rails for movement therealong. Laterally spaced lever arms engaging opposite ends of the mandrel, wedge the mandrel and web thereon into contact with a pair of vertically spaced winder drums. The winder drums are driven in the same directions at different speeds to maintain a hard rolled web on the mandrel. The lever arms are retracted under the control of fluid pressure cylinders, to release the mandrel as the roll builds up on the mandrel. The rails may extend horizontally or may slope to initially support the mandrel for nip engagement with the two winder drums, and then to support the roll of paper for nip engagement with one drum only, as the roll is wound to a predetermined diameter.

Background of the invention This invention relates to improvements in drum winders for paper and the like and more particularly relates to a simplified and improved form of rewinder for rewinding slit webs of paper.

In the rewinding of paper into large diameter rolls of preselected widths, the paper is commonly wound on a core shaft between two horizontally spaced power driven winder drums, and commonly called a two drum winder. With such winders the weight of the roll has been taken on the winder drums, and it has been extremely diflicult if not impossible to accurately control the hardness and roll structure of large diameter rolls. It also has not been possible to main nip contact on all of the rolls of a series of rolls of paper slit from a wider web and wound in side by side relation on a common core shaft. In such winding, where the rolls are wound from a web of paper slit from a winder web, there is a tendency toward interweaving of individual slit Webs, which causes neighboring rolls to become locked together.

The first difficulty arises from the weight of the windin-g roll, principally supported by the winder drums, so that 'as the roll diameter increases, the nip force also increases. The nip force at the winder drums causes the wound-in tension or tension actually going into the roll, to rise above the web tension being pulled from the unwinding stand. As the nip force becomes higher, the wound-in tension rises, causing excess internal pressure in the outer diameters of the roll, which makes a potential for internal buckling. The high tension 'also makes the roll hard in its extremities and often stretches the outer paper beyond its elastic limit.

Moreover where a set of rolls is being wound on a common core shaft, the rolls of a set coming from positions along the parent unwinding roll, where the caliper is high, will wind up harder, tighter, and to a greater diameter than neighboring rolls wound from low caliper paper. They will also carry most of the drum nip force and in extreme cases, the small diameter rolls will lose all nip force contact with the winder drums, being picked up by the common core shaft, which threads all rolls.

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The third problem occurs because after slitting a wide web into smaller widths, some spreading action is required to open the space between the web edges. Usually about one thirty-second of an inch separation is all that can be satisfactorily obtained. The location across the machine of each narrow gap must be held very closely throughout the entire duration of winding a set of rolls, or the edges of adjacent rolls will commin gle with each other to lock the rolls together.

Also the problem of core slippage can occur while winding and when dereeling a roll made on a two drum winder. If the roll, while winding, is lifted partly from the drum, so that it is supported on its core, or 'as in dereeling (where the roll issupported by the core completely), then all of the roll weight is supported on the relatively small tube of the core shaft causing high unit pressure. Rotation of the winding or unwinding rolls then alternately loads and unloads the pressure on the paper surrounding the core encouraging layer-to-l'ayer creeping of the paper, which can loosen or offset a core to one side which could not previously be budged even by hitting with a sledge hammer.

It has been attempted to remedy these difficulties by using single drum winders in place of the two drum winders, by carrying the roll of a spool or shaft and biasing the roll into engagement with a power driven winder drum. With such a winder the nip force may be controlled independently of roll weight and a control of wound roll hardness may be attained which is not possible on two drum winders.

Such winders while solving the problem of uniform roll hardness are subject to core slippage due to failure to start winding at a high enough wound-on tension near the core or spool to eliminate such slippage. It has been attempted to cure this difficulty by the use of high nip force and high unwinding tension, but high nip force in many cases actually loosens the first wrap of the paper or takes tension out of the paper and actually is only of advantage when applying a web to a resilient under layer, which preferably is of the same type of paper or Web material as the web being wound.

This problem of loosening of the first wrap manifests itself in the presence of crepe wrinkles near the core shaft or spool, caused by intermittent slippage of the paper, and results in a substantial loss in paper scrap.

Summary and objects of the invention A principal object of the present invention is to remedy the foregoing disadvantages and defects in the rewinding of paper webs by winding the web between two vertically spaced winder drums on a rewinding mandrel or core shaft, supported to make contact with the drums at the start of the initial winding operation to attain high winding tension near the core.

A further object of the invention is to improve upon the rewinding of paper by wedging a rewinding mandrel with the paper threaded thereon between two rewinding drums driven at differential speeds, and thereby providing harder and faster starts then can be attained from conventional winding apparatus.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a rewinder for webs of paper and the like in which rewinding mandrels, on which the webs are wound, are supported on horizontal rails extending from opposite sides of two vertically spaced rotating winder drums driven in the same directions at differential speeds, to provide tight rolls and hard fast starts of the rolls, and particularly suitable for continuously rewinding a Wide longitudinally slit roll of paper into a plurality of side by side relatively narrow rolls of paper.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved form of winder for the single or duplex winding of paper, textiles, film or plastic sheets utilizing mandrels supported on rails extending from opposite sides of a pair of vertically spaced parallel winder drums, and winding by wedging the mandrel and web trained thereon between the winder drums and withdrawing the mandrels as the roll builds up in diameter, and maintaining a predetermined pressure on the mandrels during the withdrawal operation to maintain the paper in engagement with the winder drums and provide a resultant uniformly wound relatively hard core roll.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved form of winder for simultaneously winding a plurality of webs slit from a wide web coming from the unwinding stand in which the tendency for adjacent slit webs to become locked together is avoided by utilizing two aligned vertically spaced Winder drums, and by establishing alternate winding nips for adjacent webs on opposite sides of the winder drums.

These and other objects of the invention will appear from time to time as the following specification proceeds and with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a generally diagrammatic view in side elevation of a winder constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary top plan diagrammatic view of the winder shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary diagrammatic view of the winder drums, illustrating a form of drive to the winder drums;

FIGURE 4 is a diagrammatic view illustratively showing a modified form of drive to the winder drums from that shown in FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a diagrammatic view showing a form of support rail arrangement for the rewinding mandrels, in which winding is initiated between the two winder drums and completed on the lower drum;

FIGURE 6 is a diagrammatic view similar to FIG- URE 5, but showing a form of support rail arrangement in which winding is initiated between the two winder drums and completed on the upper winder drum; and

FIGURE 7 is a diagrammatic view showing a winder arrangement for rewinding narrow webs.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings, we have shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, a winder 10 for rewinding rolls of paper, which may also be used for winding textiles and film or plastic sheets. As shown in FIGURE 1, a roll of paper R is suitably mounted on a roll stand 11 for rotational movement with respect to the stand and a web W is trained from the roll of paper upwardly over a guide roll 12, suitably mounted between two spaced columns 13 of the winder frame structure 15.

From the guide roll 12 the web is trained over a guide roll 16 suitably journalled between spaced beams 17, 17 of the frame structure 15. The web is then shown as being trained under an idler roll 18, which may a bowed roll to stretch the sheet. From the roll 18 the web is trained upwardly over a tension roll 19 maintaining the proper tension on the web, and downwardly between slitter knives 20 slitting the web longitudinally. From the slitter knives 20 one width of the web is trained along a winder drum 21 to a mandrel or core shaft 22, to which the end of the sheet is attached. The next adjacent portion of the web is trained downwardly along the winder drum 21 to a second mandrel or core 22 on the opposite side of the drum 21 from the first mandrel. Each core shaft or mandrel 22 is wedged between the winder drum 21 and a parallel downwardly spaced winder drum 23 to effect rewinding of the slit web, as will hereafter more clearly appear as this specification proceeds.

The frame structure 15 also includes two laterally spaced columns 25 supporting the forward ends of the beams 17 and suitably connected together and forming 4 mountings for the slitter rolls 2) and the winder drums 21 and 23.

Extending from opposite sides of the winder drums 21 and 23, inwardly of the columns 25, and alternately arranged along said drums, are pairs of parallel spaced horizontally extending rails 27, 27 forming supports for the mandrels 22. As shown in FIGURE 2 two support rails 27, 27 extend forwardly of the winder drums 21 and 23 and form a support for a mandrel 22 for winding a slit portion of the web W. Another pair of support rails 27, 27 is spaced laterally of the first set of support rails and extends to the opposite sides of the winder drums 21 and 23 and forms a support for the second mandrel 22 for winding a second width of the slit web W. Still another set of support rails 27, 27 extends forwardly of the winder drums 21 and 23- at the opposite ends of said winder drums from the first mentioned set of support rails for winding still a third width of the slit web.

It should be understood that slitter knives 20 are located between each set of support rails for slitting the web in three sections. The slitter knives may be conventional forms of slitter knives commonly used for slitting webs of paper, for rewinding, and are no part of the present invention so need not herein be shown or described further.

It should also be understood that any desired number of sets of support rails and any number and arrangement of slitter knives may be provided in accordance with the desired width of web being rewound, and that the arrangement shown and described herein is for illustrative purposes only.

Referring now to FIGURE 3, the winder drums 21 and 23 are suitably journalled in the frame structure 15 at opposite ends thereof in bearings generally indicated by reference character 29, 29 and are driven in the same directions of rotation through a clutch 30 having a direct drive connection with the upper drum, and having a gear 31 thereon forming a drive member for the lower drum 23 through an idler gear 32 meshing with a gear 33, keyed or otherwise secured to a shaft 35 for the lower drum 23. The gears 32 and 33 may be step up gears stepping up the speed of the lower winding drum an amount sufficient to maintain tension on the web and provide a hard core during winding.

The clutch 30 is shown as being driven from a chain and sprocket drive 36 although it may be driven through a speed reducer or speed reducer motor directly connected with the clutch drive shaft, or through any other suitable drive mechanism. A lever 37 is shown as being provided for selectively engaging and disengaging the clutch. The clutch 30 may be a conventional form of clutch and is no part of the present invention so need not herein be shown or described further.

With the geared drive train herein shown, the lower winder drum 23 is driven at a higher rate of speed than the upper incoming Winder drum 21 to maintain a predetermined tension on the web and a hard rolled web on the mandrel 22 and particularly at the initiation of the winding operation and the center of the roll.

In FIGURE 4 we have shown an alternate form of drive to the winder drums capable of delivering torques far greater than available from the drive motor for the winder drums. I

The drive shown in FIGURE 4 may be a conventional form of harmonic drive, known to the trade as The United Shoe Company Harmonic Drive so need only be generally shown and described herein.

In FIGURE 4, we have generally shown a motor driving a drive shaft 51 for driving the lower winder drum 23. The shaft 51 has driving connection with an upper parallel shaft 52 through a one to one gear train 53. The shaft 52 is connected with an aligned drum drive shaft 55, for driving the upper drum 21, through a coupling 56 having a rotatable shell 57.

The shell 57 of the coupling 56 is driven from the shaft 51 through an infinitely variable speed drive 59, which may be a continuously variable speed drive of a type known to the trade as a P.I.V. drive. The P.I.V. drive 59 is driven from the shaft 51 through a belt drive 60', while the P.I.V. drive 59 drives the shell 57 through a belt drive 61.

The coupling 56 acts as a true coupling with a rotating shell, except where the coupling shell is rotated at a different rate of speed than the shaft 52. Where the coupling shell is rotated faster than the shaft 52 the speed of rotation of the shaft 55 will be increased, and when the coupling shell 57 is rotated at a slower rate of speed than the shaft 52, the speed of rotation of the shaft 55 will be decreased. When the coupling shell 57 is held from rotation, the shaft 55 will be driven at the same rate of speed as the shaft 51. The P.I.V. drive 59 will thus be adjusted to rotate the drum 21 to a lagging or leading relative speed, which may give a small but continuously variable percentage speed differential between the drum 21 and the drum 23, as selected in accordance with winding requirements. With the drive just described only a small torque proportional to speed difference flows through the P.I.V. The drive system is thus free from relative speed disturbance due to changing load. The differential in speed of the two drums, of course, may vary as the roll increases in diameter.

It should here be understood that the drive connections to the drums 21 and 22 herein shown and generally described are illustrative only and the differential speeds between the winder drums 21 and 23 may be attained in various other manners, as for example by individual motor drives to each winder drum, with differential torques, or by a direct drive to one drum and a retarding means holding the other drum from rotation.

The mandrels 22 are illustratively shown in FIGURE 1 as being wedged between the winder drums 21 and 23 at the start of a winding operation by pairs of arms 39, 39, one of which arms extends along the outer side of each rail 27 to engage the opposite ends of the associated mandrel and maintain the mandrel and web wedged between the rolls 21 and 23, and to release the mandrel to move outwardly :along the rails 27, 27 as the roll builds up on the mandrel.

Each arm 39 is shown as being transversely pivoted to a support frame structure 40 for the slides 27 on a transverse shaft 41, journalled in the support structure 40 in a suitable manner. The arms may be keyed or otherwise secured to the ends of a shaft 41 to effect movement of the two arms, engaging opposite ends of thecore shaft 22, together, and to thereby provide a uniform pressure reacting against the ends of a mandrel 22. The arms 39 are moved toward and from the winder drums 21 and 23 by fluid pressure operated motors, herein shown as being cylinders 43 having pistons (not shown) therein and piston rods 44 extensible therefrom. Each cylinder 43 has a connector 45 extending from its head end, transversely pivoted to the frame structure 40 on a pivot pin 46. The piston rod 44 has a connector 47 on its head end extending along opposite sides of an arm 48 extending from the arm 39 at right angles with respect thereto and transversely pivoted thereto on a pivot pin 49. The cylinders 43 may be air or hydraulic cylinders and when fluid under pressure is admitted to the head ends thereof, the arms 39 are moved toward the winder drums 21 and 23 to wedge a mandrel 22 with the end of -a web attached thereto between the winder drums 21 and 23. The arms may maintain the mandrel 22 and web W attached thereto into engagement with the winder drums 21 and 23 with a predetermined pressure. Fluid pressure may gradually be released from the piston rod ends of the cylinders 43 as the web builds up on the mandrel, to allow the arms 39 to move backwardly along the rails 27 and still maintain the required pressure on opposite ends of the mandrel, to nrovide the hard wound roll desired.

It should here be understood that the fluid pressure operated cylinders; and piston rods shown and their connections to the arms 39 are illustrative showings only, and that the cylinders and piston rods may be arranged in various other manners than the manner particularly shown herein and that other power means may be used in place of the cylinder 43 and arms 39, to exert pressure on the mandrels 22.

The supporting surfaces of the rails 27 may usually be aligned several thousandths of an inch below the location necessary to simultaneously engage the web with the rotating surfaces of the winding drums 21 and 23. The loading nip force delivered by the arms 39 is sutficient to lift the mandrel from the rails 27 into engagement with the two drum nips, and the rails are not needed to support the mandrel until the roll diameter is in excess of six or eight inches.

When, however, the roll reaches a diameter of 30 to 40 inches the roll weight is supported on the rails and the nip force may be program-med to a lower level than used for starting.

In FIGURE 5 we have shown an arrangement of rails 27 in which the support rails slope downwardly from the Winding drums. With this arrangement of rails, the nip between the roll of paper and the top winding drum is released after the roll reaches a predetermined diameter, and a nip is maintained only on the lower winding drum for the balance of the winding operation, control of nip force is maintained on the lower winding drum 23 by the arms 39. The slope of the rails may be from 4 to 5 degrees and the rails may be aligned with the space between the winding drurns 21 and 23 to line up a mandrel with the drums, to have uniform pressure nips therebetween.

In FIGURE 6 we have shown an arrangement of rails 27 in which the winding nip after the roll reaches a predetermined diameter is on the winding drum 21 for the balance of the winding operation. In the disclosure of this figure, the rails slope upwardly from a location lining up the mandrel with the nips between the winding drums 21 and 23 at an angle which may be from 4 to 5 degrees from the horizontal.

It should be understood the slope of the rails upwardly or downwardly from the winding drums 21 and 23 may vary depending upon when it is desired to release the roll from one or the other of the drums, and that the rail profiles shown may vary and may be straight for a portion of their length and sloping for the balance of their length and may even be curved upwardly or downwardly to provide the uniformity and roll hardness desired.

The arms 39 may also form supports for the mandrels under certain conditions.

In FIGURE 7 we have shown a form of mandrel support, particularly adapted for Winding narrow rolls, to counteract an unbalance in the force applied to the ends of the mandrel which may cause cocking of the narrow roll against the winding drums. In this form of the invention a core or mandrel 65 is rotatably mounted on a center shaft 66 having pinions 67 keyed or otherwise secured to opposite ends thereof. The pinions 67 mesh with racks 69 extending along support rails 70, similar to the rails 27. This form of aligning mechanism is principally effective on narrow rolls since the inherent play between the racks and pinions would tend to reduce their effectiveness on wide rolls. The arms for maintaining the nips with the rolls 21 and 23 may otherwise be the same as with the form of the invention illustrated in FIG- URES 1 and 2.

While we have herein shown and described several forms in which our invention may be embodied, it may readily be understood that various variations and modifications thereof may be attained without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts of the invention.

7 We claim as our invention: 1, A winder for winding webs of paper and the like into rolls comprising:

a frame, a pair of vertically spaced winder drums journalled on said frame for rotation about parallel axes, means driving said winder drums, a winder mandrel, means supporting said winder mandrel for movement into the space between said winder drums, means training a sheet to said winder mandrel, spaced reaction members movable toward and from said winder drums and reacting against opposite ends of said winder mandrel, power means for moving said reaction members to bias said winder mandrel and the sheet trained thereto into engagement with said winder drums, said reaction members being retractible as the sheet is wound on said winder mandrel to maintain a predetermined pressure nip between the sheet and said winder drums. 2. The structure of claim 1, wherein the reaction members are in the form of arms transversely pivoted to said frame, and wherein fluid pressure operated cylinders and piston means are provided to bias said reaction members toward said winder drums and apply pressure to the mandrel and accommodate retractible movement thereof as a roll is built up on said mandrel. 3. A winder for winding webs of paper and the like into rolls comprising:

a frame, a pair of vertically spaced winder drums journalled on said frame for rotation about parallel axes, means driving said winder drums, a winder mandrel, means supporting said 'winder mandrel for movement into the space between said winder drums, means training a sheet to said winder mandrel, other means biasing said winder mandrel and the sheet trained thereto into engagement with said winder drums in the space therebetween and maintaining the mandrel and sheet in engagement therewith to effect winding thereof about said mandrel, and said support means for said winder mandrel being arranged to initially maintain the mandrel and the paper web trained thereabout in nip engagement with both of said winder drums and to release the roll from one of said winder drums upOn the winding of the roll to a preselected diameter and continue to maintain a Winding nip on only one of said winder drums for the balance of the winding operation. 4. A winder for winding webs of paper and the like into rolls comprising:

a frame, at least one pair of parallel spaced rails extending along said frame and having coplanar supporting surfaces, a pair of vertically spaced winder drums rotatable about parallel axes disposed transversely of said rails and on opposite sides of said coplanar support surfaces, means driving said winder drums at different relative speeds, a winder mandrel supported on said rails for movement there'along into the space between said winder drums, means training a sheet to said winder mandrel, and other means engaging said winder mandrel and moving said winder mandrel along said rails and biasing said winder mandrel and the sheet trained thereabout into engagement with said winder drums in the space therebetween, and maintaining the sheet in engagement with said Winder mandrel, to effect winding of the sheet about said winder mandrel. 5. The structure of claim 4,

wherein the rails have racks extending along the top surfaces thereof,

wherein coaxial pinions mesh with said racks for free movement therealong, and

wherein said coaxial pinions support opposite ends of said Winder mandrel on said rails for free movement therealong.

6. The structure of claim 4,

wherein the rails slope downwardly from positions supporting the mandrel for nip engagement with said drums, and support the roll of paper for nip engagement with the lower of said drums only, after winding to a predetermined diameter.

7. The structure of claim 4,

wherein the rails slope upwardly from positions supporting the mandrel for nip engagement with both of said drums, and support the roll of paper for nip engagement with the upper of said drums only, after winding to a predetermined diameter.

8. The structure of claim 4,

wherein the coplanar support surfaces of the rails extend horizontally,

wherein the biasing means comprise spaced reaction member movable along said rails and reacting against opposite ends of the core shaft,

wherein power means are provided for moving said reaction members to hold the core shaft and sheet trained thereto into engagement with said winder drums,

and wherein said power means are retractible to maintain a predetermined pressure between the sheet and said rails during the entire winding operation.

9. The structure of claim 8,

wherein a plurality of pairs of rails are provided and alternately extend to opposite sides of said winder drums and form supports for individual winder mandrels to accommodate the simultaneous winding of a plurality of rolls by said winder drums.

10. The structure of claim 9,

wherein a plurality of pairs of rails are provided,

wherein each pair of rails is arranged alternately of the other to extend to opposite sides of said winder drums and form supports for individual winder mandrels for simultaneously Winding a plurality of rolls of paper,

wherein the reaction members comprise individual sets of arms for each pair of rails engaging opposite ends of a rewinder mandrel and transversely pivoted to said frame,

and wherein fluid pressure operated cylinder and piston means are provided to simultaneously move each set of arms along said rails and provide a winding pressure for the associated winder mandrel and accommodate retractible movement of said arms during the building up of a roll of paper on said mandrel.

11. The structure of claim 4 wherein the mandrel is mounted on a shaft for free rotation with respect thereto,

wherein the shaft has pinions on opposite ends thereof and tied by said shaft for rotation together,

and wherein the rails have racks extending therealong meshed with and supporting said pinions.

12. In an apparatus for rewinding webs of paper and the like into rolls,

a plurality of pairs of parallel spaced rails disposed on opposite sides of said winder drums in staggered relation with respect to each other and having coplanar support surfaces disposed intermediate the axes of rotation of said winder drums and extending perpendicular thereto,

-a winder mandrel supported on each set of rails for movement there'along into the space between said winder drums,

at slitter in association with each set of rails for slitting the web to accommodate simultaneous rewinding of a series of narrow webs on said winder mandrels,

means guiding the web from said roll stand to said slitters and winder mandrels,

other means biasing said winder mandrels and the webs trained thereto into engagement with said winder drums to effect winding of the webs thereon, and releasing said mandrels to move along said rails upon the building up of a roll of paper thereon, to effect the winding of a plurality of rolls of paper by said winder drums, having hard cores and of a predetermined hardness throughout the diameters of said rolls.

13. The structure of claim 12,

wherein individual reaction members engage opposite ends of said winder mandrels,

and wherein fluid pressure operated means bias said reaction members and winder mandrels into engagement with said winder drums.

14. The structure of claim 13,

wherein the reaction members are pivoted arms transversely pivoted to the frame for movement along said rails and having engagement with opposite ends of the rewinder mandrels,

and wherein fluid pressure operated cylinder and piston means move said arms along opposite sides of said rails and provide a predetermined pressure on opposite ends of the mandrel to attain a hard core and a final roll of predetermined hardness.

15. The structure of claim 14,

wherein the rails slope downwardly from positions supporting the mandrels for nip engagement with said drums.

16. The structure of claim 14,

wherein the rails slope upwardly from positions supporting the mandrels for nip engagement with said drums.

17. The structure of claim 14,

wherein the rails have upwardly facing racks extending therealong,

wherein coaxial pinions mesh with said racks for free rotation therealong, and

wherein said pinions are tied together for rotation to gether and support said mandrel for movement along said racks.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS LEONARD D. CHRISTIAN, Primary Examiner. 

